200th Annuel Hunger Games
by BorntoWrite101
Summary: This story is about a girl named Rosetta Catwell and her adventure in the 200th annual hunger games. Also known as the 8th quarter quell . This story is full of cliff hangers and suspenseful romance. This story is bound to keep you on the edge of your seat.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Beep beep, beep beep. I wake up in a jolt from a horrible nightmare. I check my clock and see that it's 6:30 am. I'm never a morning person, but I promised my best friend, Alyssa Fisherman, that we'd go down to the sea this morning because it may be one of our last chances. My name is Rosetta Catwell and I live in District 4. I have caramel glazed hair with pale blue eyes. You think that being from D4 I would have tan skin but I don't. Today is the reaping for the 200th annual Hunger Games. I've really frightened on what the twist is for the 8th quarter quell this year is going to be. (Every 25 years, the Capitol adds a twist to make the Games even more awful).

I know, everyone thought the Games were over when the fabulous girl on fire started that rebellion that got most of the people killed but after the Capitol kids Games were held, one of President's Snows relatives took over and is practically another Hitler if I say so. But I jerk off any ideas of being picked, I've survived two years of being eligible in the drawing, hopefully I can pull off a third.

I walk into the bathroom down the hall and wash my face with cold water. I put on my make-up than head back to me and my sisters' room. My little sister, Amanda, is only 8 so I'm glad she won't have to worry about any quarter quells in her life. I put on a solid green shirt, cargo pants and some boots; I pull my hair back into a high ponytail too. I kiss my sleepy sister on the forehead and I'm off.

My house is only a mile from the shore so I jog the way. Once I get there, I take off my boots and walk to the edge of the water. I'm highly afraid of water. Shockingly yes, it is true. My mother drowned when I was only 6 years old in this same ocean. The lifeguards tried to save her but the riptide was too strong and she drowned, leaving my dad to take care of us. I have nothing against him but he's been in a fog ever since her death. It bothers me so I try to keep him from being remembered of the memory. He mostly stays in bed the entire day and sleeps. I work three jobs trying to cover money. I bring home the food, and my dad somehow makes a wonderful, filling meal out of it. I don't mind working a lot though; it keeps me busy so I don't have to morn about my mother.

I start throwing rocks in the ocean when Alyssa pulls up in her bike. I run up to greet her with a big hug. She originally lived in District 5 but when she was 7 she moved here because her parents have jobs that consider them to move a lot. Alyssa is practically another sister to me. Her parents travel so much, when they are away, she comes over to my house. She has red hair and dark brown eyes; she has the figure of a fighter which I love. She's a year older than me but she acts like a year younger than me. She pulls out a blanket from her backpack, which she always carries around with her, and a brown paper bag. We go back down by the water and she unfolds the blanket. She takes off her shirt and shorts to reveal her bikini underneath.

"I still can't believe you don't know how to swim," she says

"It's not that I can't learn it's just that I choose not to" I reply. After my mother's passing, I never touched the water again because it was too traumatizing. I sit down on the blanket while she dives into the water. "What's in the bag?" I holler out to her

"Some breakfast before the reaping" she calls back. I open the bag and see two bananas, two apples, and two handfuls of grapes. A thing me and Alyssa have in common is that we are both vegetarians. She comes back out and lies down on the blanket next to me. I hand her a banana and take the other one for myself. We munch on it quickly with the rest of the fruit. We pack up too soon after but we both have to head back home so we can get ready for the reaping at noon.

She hops onto her bike and I hug her. She says "You know, you may need to learn how to swim because you never know, the arena can be held in the ocean." I shudder at the thought.

"I think I'll be fine, Liz" I hug her one last time and start to head off back to my house.

When I walk inside, I walk into my room. My sister is brushing her hair in the mirror. I kiss her forehead and say, "Morning"

"Where did you go today?" she asks

"I went down to the beach with Liz"

"You need to learn how to swim, what if you get chosen and in the arena you are stuck in a situation where you need to swim to get away from the Careers!" She continues to ramble on like that but I cut her off

"Mandy, I'll be fine!" I kiss the top of her head "don't worry about me." I smile at her through the mirror.

"I laid out some nice clothes for you for the reaping." I look behind me and see that she placed a light purple dress with black flats on my bed. I thank her than head to the bathroom to shower. I'm really afraid that if I get picked, I may not return and my family will starve. At least I'll have Liz to rely on.

I get out and towel-dry my hair. I walk back into my room and my little sister dries my hair fully for me and straightens it. I put on the dress and flats and look at the full length mirror. My sister creeps behind me and I give her an awkward hug.

I kneel down to look her in the eyes, she whispers in my ear "Please, if you do get picked to play in these awful Games, please try to come home" I can tell that she is trying to hold back tears. I pull her into me for a hug. I whisper back,

"I'm sorry but I can't promise you that. I don't make promises I can't keep. There are definitely going to be stronger, faster people in there but I will try my hardest to come back to you."

She quietly sobs on my shoulder and I try to comfort her, "If I do get picked, you can have this to remember me when I'm away." I pull away from her and get up and walk over to my jewelry box. I grab out my mothers' old necklace that she used to wear but when she died, I kept it before they could bury it with her. It's a gold chain with a silver diamond in the middle with me and my sister's name carved on the back of it. I put it on my sister and we silently stare at each other through the mirror. She looks exactly like my mother, it frightens me sometimes. I even believe their freckles are in the same spots. We stay like that for what seems like forever, our silence is broken by the bell that signals its noon and that we need to head down to the town square for the reaping. I kiss my sister softly on the head; wipe away her tears, than we're off.


	2. Chapter 2

I say good-bye to my sister and tell her that I'll meet her back after the reaping in front of the Justice Building. A tear rolls down her face but I kiss it away. I hug her than walk to the roped off section where all the other 14 year olds are. In about ten more minutes, everyone is here and we can finally get this reaping started, the sooner it starts, the quicker it'll be over. Our districts escort, Julius Dickenson, hops onto the stage. He is wearing a green wig with gold highlights and a very loud outfit to match. He's African American with deep brown eyes and surprisingly a muscular stature.

"Welcome, welcome everyone to District 4's reaping!" he squeaks in that annoying Capitol accent, it's like they want to get beat up. "Before we start picking names, the Capitol has put together a special video for you all" He claps and the presentation starts. It's the same video every year, about how the rebellion was started, how the Capitol put an end to it and how they have the Hunger Games every year to remind the districts of the evil an uprising can bring blah, blah, blah. I never pay attention to the video because the Capitol tries to make the Hunger Games sort of a pleasant thing, which is another thing I despise about them. When the presentation is over, Julius comes back over to the microphone. He talks about the past victors than the mayor makes a speech than finally the time comes to pick the names. I don't and probably never will understand why they don't just pick the names first instead of making us all suffer through unwanted speeches in the hot sun.

Julius walks over to the girls' ball first and dips his hand inside. He swooshes his hand around and finally decides on a piece of paper. He pulls it out all dramatically and walks back to the microphone. "Our girl representative for District 4 is… Rosetta Catwell."

I'm completely shocked. But I mask my horror into my blank yet heroic face. I'll never get sponsors if I act like a cry baby. I make my way to the stage and look over to see my sister crying her eyes out begging someone to volunteer for me. But when Julius asks for volunteers, no one comes forward of course. District 4 is usually a career district but I have no intention on joining them.

Julius makes his way over to the boys' ball. He, again, dramatically picks a name and calls into the microphone, "Sean Morton"

Oh, no! Not him! I think. He was one of the lifeguards that tried to save my mom and he was the unlucky one who had to deliver the news to my family. He probably forgets but I never will forget the face that brought my life tumbling down.

He makes his way to the stage, obviously scared, hopefully I didn't look like that, I think. Julius makes us shake hands and before we head inside the Justice Building, he tells everyone the change that comes with every quarter quell. He squeaks, "Since this year is a quarter quell year, there is a little twist to the Games, straight from the Capitol. The twist this time is that the tributes will have no mentors, but they are allowed to bring one person along with them. And after the interviews, we will hold a party where all the sponsors will be lined up and each tribute will have to convince sponsors that they are worthy for their sponsorship. Thank you! May I introduce District 4's tributes in the 200th annual Hunger Games!" There is a weak applause than Julius whisks us into the Justice Building.


	3. Chapter 3

Sean and I are taken to different rooms. I believe this is the hardest moment in my life that I have to face. My family knows I'm going to die and seeing me before my pain and suffering for what they think is the last time, really sucks. I observe the room before my first visitor comes in. There are plush chairs, a love seat, and a big long leather couch. There is a big window that out looks the city and the room are decorated with plants and flowers. The dark purple wall paper adds a sickening mood to this all. The books in the book shelf are all dusty as I assume they haven't been touched in forever. Being the bookworm that I am, I go over and exam the books. As I am inspecting them, my first visitor comes in. I turn to see them.

It's my dad. I go over to him and hug him really tight. I'm glad he actually got out of bed to wish me good luck because odds are that I'm probably not coming back. "Hey kiddo," wow, he must really be upset. He never called me kiddo after mom died.

"Hey daddy"

"I'm so sorry this is happening to you"

"It's not your fault" It not anyone's fault, it's just bad luck.

"I know but I'll miss you"

No, you'll miss me because you'll actually have to get off your lazy butt and work for once. I think but don't actually say. Instead I say "I'll miss you too" Than I break from the hug. I've never been close to my dad, so we really have nothing to talk about. But I want to make one thing perfectly clear to him before I go, "Dad. I know you haven't worked in a while but you have to pull yourself together, for Amanda. I've been there for her since you haven't. You have to make sure she doesn't starve. I most likely won't be coming back. So if you don't get this through your thick skull, your precious little daughter will be dead in a matter of weeks. You got it?" I'm totally in his face now because I can't dare to see Amanda die slowly and painfully like that.

He nods his head and then a Peacekeeper comes in and tells him his time is up. My dad walks out without another word. I fall onto the couch, and put my head in my hands and start to cry. I feel like I was too hard on my dad but I wanted to make sure he understood.

I look up to see my next visitor, Amanda. I wipe my tears away quickly and run to hug her. Me and her don't say anything for a while but weep on each other's shoulders. I get off her shoulder and say, "It's going to be okay. I promise. But please stay strong while I'm away. Also don't forget that whatever you see on that tv is all wrong. Just remember that what I do is all to get back to you, okay?" All she does is nod her head and say,

"Okay, just please try. I don't know what I'll do without you." I taught her how to fish when I was 12 just in case I was going to get chosen so she can live on fish if she really needed to. I'll miss her so much. The Peacekeeper comes in too soon and takes her away from me. I promise myself that I will try everything I can to get back to her.

My last visitor is Alyssa. I get up and hug her too. "Oh my God, are you okay? I'm so sorry, I should've volunteered but I couldn't bring up the courage in time. I'm sorry!" She started weeping on my shoulder.

"It's okay; it's not your fault. I'd rather me go in the arena than you."

"But you have your sister and father; I don't have any family except my parents who travel too much for me to actually care about."

"You're right but I'm taking you with me. I need you. Will you come with me?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Of course I'll come!" I laugh at her excitement. The Peacekeeper comes in to take us to the train station.


	4. Chapter 4

At the station, we meet up with Julius, Sean and who I assume to be his guest he's taking along. I learn that his name is Derek and I shake his hand. Julius tells me to take some pictures with Sean so I put one arm around him and my other hand goes on my hip. He puts his arm around me too and we both smile and it seems like forever until Julius tells all of us to come in for a group shot. After about another 5 minutes, we head into the train and take a seat on the couch. I am squeezed next to Sean and Alyssa with Derek next to Alyssa. I start to feel a little sick so I move to the love seat and kick my feet up while Sean moves to the armchair next to my love seat. Derek and Alyssa start talking so I turn to Sean.

"So, I guess this is our time to get to know each other."

"I guess so" he replies

"So tell me about yourself,"

"My name is Sean Morton, I'm 16 years old, and I have an older sister and brother and also a younger sister…" As he's talking, I take a look at him. He has light brown hair, with beautiful, intoxicating green eyes. I could stare at them forever. I also notice that he's very tan, unlike me, and very muscular. He's also tall, like me. He's very attractive but I can't fall for him, I'll have to end up killing him, which will hurt me more than it should.

When he finishes telling me his life story, that I was half listening to. I tell him about me, "Uh, my name is Rosetta Catwell, I'm 14 years old, I have a younger sister, and I'm a vegetarian."

"You are not." He seems shocked.

"Yes I am"

Julius shows me to my room where I can spend the next hour before dinner. I take a shower, dry my hair and curl it. I pick out a blouse and some nice shorts since its almost 100 degrees outside.

To the left of my room is Alyssa's room. I knock on it since I have time and she opens the door in a fluffy flowery robe. "Hey" she says "You look amazing"

"Thanks, you too"

"Shut up" she rolls her eyes and then laughs. I walk into her room and it looks exactly like mine. I sit down on the love seat in her room and she walks into her bathroom to change into her clothes for dinner. She comes out a few minutes later in a pair of jeans and a purple top. She towel dries her hair and puts it back into a ponytail. She sits next to me on the couch and says "So you and Sean?"

"What? No, I don't like him like that. If I did, it would end badly because one of us would end up dying. It would break my heart, so you and Derek?"

"Huh? NO WAY MAN! I would never cheat on Brian like that." I forgot she had a boyfriend.

"Well Brian doesn't have to know" I smile and push her playfully. We both laugh than Julius comes in telling us to come down to dinner.

When we head to the dining room, I take a seat and Liz takes the seat across from me. Derek and Sean come in soon after us. Sean sits next to me and Derek sits next to Liz while Julius takes the head of the table. Julius starts blabbing on about his day and I just zone him out and enjoy my fruit salad. It's really good and I eat it quickly. When I finish, I go by the tv and watch some Capitol junk. I'm flipping through the channels when the remote is snatched from my hands from Sean. I try to grab it but he keeps bringing out of my reach. I finally give up and put my hands behind my head and kick my feet up on the coffee table. But Julius quickly scolds me so I take them down.

Both of us settle on the love seat since Derek, Alyssa and Julius are on the regular couch. I sit on one side of the love seat while Sean is on the other side. We all watch the recaps of the reapings from each district. I look for any easy people to take down but no one is installed in my memory. Everyone seems different yet the same. But when we get to District 4, I make sure to see my facial expressions. I looked pretty awesome if I say so. Once we finish, Julius tells us that we will be arriving in the Capitol in one hour, than he goes to his quarters to get ready. Derek and Liz walk out after Julius so it's just me and Sean. I start to get up but he says "Leaving so soon?"

I sit back down and face him on the couch "I'm back on the couch then,"

"Ha, yes you are. Did you see any good competitors?"

"They all left my brain as soon as their faces left the screen"

"Oh. Are you thinking of any allies you want?"

"No because it's really hard to have an ally. What if it comes down to the two of you? And how are you going to trust them when they can kill you at any second or bail on you?"

"I understand your logic there. Good thinking."

"Thanks, I'm going to put my stuff in order before we leave. See ya soon" I get up and walk into my room. I put my bag in order and then when I'm done, Julius comes in to tell me we're finally here.


	5. Chapter 5

: I grab my bag and my purse and walk to the front of the train to meet everyone else. My and Alyssa lock arms and walk out of the train into the Training Center and up to the District 4 floor. I drop my bags and walk around. The dining room is cool, there is an awesome living room with a huge flat screen tv. Also around the corner is a crystal clear pool. I go back to the elevator to get my suitcase when Sean sees me and says "Excited much?" I just smile and grab my bags and bring them to my room. My room is amazing. There is a huge window that overlooks the Capitol. My bed turns out to be a water bed and I have an electronic dresser. I type in my kind of style: Funky, spunky and awesome and the results are so cool! I look into the bathroom and see the shower has so many buttons that I'm destined to try them all before I leave. I open the mirror cabinet in the bathroom and see it's fully stocked in make-up supplies. I'm so excited. I dump my bag onto the bed and leave to go explore more.

I go to check on Liz but she's not there. I walk around to go find her, she's not in the dining room nor the living room. So when I check the pool, I see her, Sean and Derek chilling out in it.

"Finally finished checking out the awesome rooms?" Liz asks

"Yeah, they are pretty cool" I reply

"So, you coming in or do you have to come in the hard way?" asks Sean

"No I'm gonna sit out and watch you guys. It's fine" I reply

"So she wants the hard way" Derek says. They all look at each other and smile. They make their way out of the pool, towards me. I get off my lounger and start to run away. But when I look back, I see them running after me. Even Liz! She knows I can't swim! I don't want to tell them because it's embarrassing coming from District 4 and all.

I run into the living room and see the most hideous sight ever. Julius is sitting there with a box of tissues, crying his eyes out, watching The Days of Our Lives. I stop running and spend a second to laugh at him. When he sees me, he turns off the tv and scowls at me. I continue running thinking the others are probably close behind.

I run into the closest room and it turns out being Sean's room. I close the door and when I turn, I see all three of them staring at me and smiling. I scream and swing the door back open. I'm starting to get tired so I slow down but I get caught from behind. Sean lifts me up and I pound on his back in frustration. "Let me go Sean!"

"No! You are going in the pool!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"Sean! Let me down!" He isn't letting go so I get madder. I don't want to drown but I don't want to get embarrassed.

He lets me go than my whole surroundings become water and I can't breathe. This seems like a torture device. I can't seem to find a way out. I'm so terrified. I'm going to drown. I paddle upwards with my hands and finally find the surface. I gasp for air. I scream for help and Sean lifts me out of the pool. I run to my room and cough up blood and throw up a few times. I'm so embarrassed but I'm mad at Sean for throwing me in. But he didn't know I couldn't swim because I was too scared to tell him. But I almost died! Ugh I have mixed emotions and I start to get a headache. By the time I stop coughing and choking, I put on a tank top and some basketball shorts. I put my wet hair up in a sloppy bun too. I grab a silk robe from the bathroom and ask Julius if I could go to the roof to get some fresh air. He lets me go up.

When I open my window, I climb up to the roof and just sit there and watch the lights of the city. I'm not mad at anyone, I just want to be alone. Everything is so peaceful up here, I could stay up here forever, but I sadly can't. I realized I've been treating this time as a vacation. I'm going to fight to my death in a week and I'm playing silly games and getting thrown into pools. I'm ashamed of myself for not taking this seriously. I promise myself that I will be more serious.

I hear footsteps from behind and when I turn I see Sean. "Can I come and sit down?" he asks

"Sure" I look away from him and gaze back to the city, admiring the lights. Sean takes a seat next to me and says,

"I'm sorry," I turn to him and reply,

"For what?"

"I almost killed you"

"It's not your fault. I was too embarrassed to tell you I couldn't swim"

"No, it's my fault. I assumed since you lived in District 4 for 14 years, you knew how to swim."

"A lot of people think that. It's ok" I look away from him and look out to the city again.

"Do you want me to teach you? You may need it in the arena"

"It's ok. I'd rather not"

"And why not?"

"Because I just don't like water ok?" I turn to him and look him into the eyes. I don't want to continue this conversation.

"How can you not like water? It's your districts national job." I look at him really hard than unfortunately a tear rolls down my face. I hate thinking about my mom and obviously Sean forgot about the incident. I get up to leave but Sean grabs hold of arm.

"What?" I plead

"I just want to know why you're afraid. It won't hurt you." I look down and hold back my tears. I look up and say,

"It can hurt me. It killed my mother when I was 6. You were there, you were one of the lifeguards. She drowned." He doesn't say anything, he has a shocked face on. After 5 minutes, he finally says,

"Oh my God. I remember. I'm so sorry I forgot. I understand now."

"Yeah. It's fine. I'm going to go. I'm tired, I should go." That was half lie, half-truth. It's really late, like 10 pm but I'm not really tired to leave so soon. I just want to clear my head. Sean lets go of me and I go back to my room. I take off my robe and swoosh on my bed. I than can see how tired I really am. I'm out like a light.


	6. Chapter 6

I wake up with a banging on my door. I check my clock to see that it's 7:30 am. I slug myself out of bed and swing open the door. It's Julius blabbing on about stylist and opening ceremonies. He also said something about breakfast in half an hour. I close the door in his face because he'll probably repeat himself at breakfast. I go to my closet and it throws a pair of sweats and a cami at me with Vans to match. I take a shower trying almost half the buttons and when I step out, I smell like I went through the woods than slept in a meadow. I don't really care and I slip on the clothes and brush out my wet head. I put it in another sloppy bun than head to breakfast. Julius, Derek and Alyssa are already there and eating. We sit in the same seating formation as yesterday on the train. I grab scrambled eggs and some grits with butter from the buffet and eat it quickly. I go back and grab an apple and sit down by the tv. I didn't talk to anyone because I really don't feel like talking. And there's nothing to talk about. Julius said Sean and I are going to meet our stylists at 1 than the opening ceremonies are at 6. I check that it's 11 am now so I decide to head by the pool with a book I got from the library at the Justice Building. The only real piece I have from District 4. Man I miss home.

I lay down on a chair by the pool and kick my feet up. I feel a trickle of water on my legs and look up to see Derek in the pool. I just realized I haven't said more than two words to the guy. He says,

"Do you mind if I swim a little?"

"No go ahead"

"Hey, are you still mad at us for throwing you in the pool yesterday?"

"No, you guys didn't know, it's okay."

"Oh, okay. You seemed down ever since than"

"No, there's just nothing to talk about and I want to start taking this seriously."

"Ah, are you sure that's it?"

"Yeah why does it seem like anything else?"

"No, nothing at all"

"Okay? Well if you don't mind, I'm going to go back to my book" He nods his head and dives under the pool. I think about trying swimming, but it's too scary. I hated being surrounded by all that water and not knowing what to do. I usually know how to handle situations but I was helpless underneath all that water. It seemed endless. I jerk out any thoughts of swimming out of my head.

Sean comes by and sits next to me with no shirt, just his bathing trunks, showing his nicely toned abs. I remembered he didn't show up at breakfast. I say, "Where were you at breakfast?"

"Oh, I slept in" I was a little angry at that because Julius made me come downstairs when Sean didn't have to.

"That's not fair! Julius made me come."

"Well I'm not a morning person"

"Neither am I"

"So, fill me in, what did I miss at breakfast"

"We are meeting our stylists at 1 and the opening ceremonies are at 6. Also you missed the best story about how to pick the perfect, in style wig from Julius." I roll my eyes and Sean laughs.

"Oh, that sucks. Wish I was there."

"Don't worry, I'm sure if you ask Julius, he'll tell you again, in full detail."

"Nah, I'm good" We both laugh and I try to go back to my book. Derek comes out of the pool and sits to my left.

"Are you sure you don't want to learn? I can just tell you the basics." Sean asks

"Yeah, we'll both help you" Derek adds

"I don't know guys, I'm just not into learning…" I reply

"Please?" Sean pleads. I don't know why he really wants me to learn, it's kind of weird.

"Ugh, fine, but if I drown, it'll be your fault" I get up and head back to my room. I put on a striped rainbow bikini with the same silk robe I wore last night on the roof. I head back to the pool, terrified for my life. I guess it can tell on my face because when I come back Sean says,

"Don't worry; I won't leave your side. I promise" I don't know why but that actually makes me feel better. Derek leaves saying he has to do something else. So it's just me and Sean one-on-one. This better not waste my time.


	7. Chapter 7

To start our lesson, Sean takes me into the shallow end. Its 3ft but I heard you could drown in at least 20 inches of water. I start to freak out; maybe this wasn't a good idea.

"You know what Sean? Never mind, I don't wanna learn"

"What are you talking about? We didn't even start swimming yet. You're just standing in water."

"Yeah, I know but I'm scared." He pulls me in real close to his body. I can feel his warmth radiating from his toned chest.

"What are you scared of? You have nothing to be afraid of if you're with me" He devilishly grins

"I'm scared that I'll drown again. It was very scary"

"Don't think like that, just concentrate on floating. Swimming is supposed to be fun. Make it fun." He takes my hand and walks to the edge of the shallow end. My toes hang off the edge and it freaks me out. Sean notices and grabs my waist but stands next to me. I can't get out of his grasp.

"Alright first," he says "I'm going to teach you how to float on your back, than your stomach. Once you get the hang of staying afloat, you can add your legs than arms. You'll start moving from there."

Sean tells me to lay on my back and kick my legs as if I was riding a bike. He grabs hold of my back to keep me steady and I start to get the hang of it. I feel safe and secure in Sean's arms. I know I'm not supposed to feel like that, since we are going to be held in an arena in less than a week but I do.

He then tells me that its time to float on my stomach. I kick my legs again slowly as if I was riding a bike. "Alright, now kick your legs a little faster, and hold your arms out."

I do as I'm told and ask "Like this?"

"Perfect. Now start paddling your arms like your legs. You should start moving forward."

I add my arms and Sean is right! I'm moving forward, and I'm in the deep end! I'm in the… DEEP END? I start freaking out again. I scream for Sean "Sean, help! Help! I can't do this! I'm drowning!"

I go under the water but I can't find the surface. I'm trapped, I can't get out. My surroundings are starting to get blurry, I can't hold on any more, Where's Sean? I stop kicking my legs, I feel like I'm going to faint. I feel something lifting me up, I'm so light-headed. I'm starting to lose consciousness but Sean pulls me out of the pool. I don't know what happened next, everything goes dark.

I wake up in my bed with Liz at my side, I jolt right up.

"What time is it?" I ask

"It's 12:45 why?"

"I have to meet my stylist in 15 minutes!" I start to get up but Liz pushes me back down.

"Calm down, you have time. Rest your head" She puts a towel on my forehead, I feel sick.

"What happened?"

"Um, well you were swimming fine, pretty well actually but then you started flipping out. You stopped swimming and sunk all the way to the bottom of the pool. It took Sean a while to get you but when he grabbed hold of you, he pulled you up and out of the pool. He went beside you and started giving you CPR. He saved your life…"

"He saved my life?" Great, now I owe him. I hate returning favors.

"Yeah. You were lucky that he is a lifeguard. What happened out there? Why did you stop swimming?"

"I don't know. I freaked out. I thought of my mother and got so self-conscious of the water, I stopped swimming. I feel bad now"

"Don't feel bad. As long as you're ok, it's fine. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, much better. Thanks, where is Sean?"

"Talking with Julius, probably waiting for you so you three can go meet your stylists."

"Let's get going. Can you help me up?"

"Sure." Liz grabs my hand and pulls me up. She helps me walk over to the elevator where Sean and Julius seem to be in a deep conversation. Once I'm in view of them, they stop talking. Julius says,

"Now that you're here, we can get going!" He pushes me and Sean in the elevator and then we're off.


	8. Chapter 8

Sean and I don't say a word to each other on the way down; I don't want to speak to him. I don't know how he convinced me to actually swim but it annoyed me. I should've never learned and just continued reading my book. Whatever, it's over and I'm done with learning how to swim. I go into a separate room than Sean once the elevator doors open. Julius guides me into what he calls the Remake room. He said this where I go to make myself a little more appealing before I meet my stylist.

The Remake room is awful! They practically waxed me of hair like people skin wool from a sheep, leaving bare and cold. They waxed my legs, my eyebrows and put a sticky solvent on me to make my body smooth and to reduce hair growth for a whole three months. I'll miss my hairs. They also perform a procedure where they get rid of the bags under my eyes. I only got those from my nightmares and nights I stay awake, not wanting to drift back into dream land where my nightmares can haunt me once again.

Once I'm finally done, the workers take me into a special room and tell me to wait there because my stylist will be here soon. It's a small room. In the middle of the room, there's one of those chairs you have to lay on in the doctor's office, and I also notice there are no windows in this room but it's well lit. There also are no doors in this room either. I'm thinking that the walls slide open to reveal an opening.

I take a seat on the chair and think about what they are planning to put me in for the ceremonies. As I am in deep thought, the wall in front of me opens and in comes a middle aged lady with black curly long hair, in a bun, held up with pencils, she has an average body with also an annoying Capitol accent she also has purple contacts. She introduces herself to me as Violet. Violet says, "Stand up, I want to get a good look of you"

I stand up and she circles me like a vulture would circle something before it swopped in and attacked. She soon finishes and tells me to sit back down. Her ideas are horrendous, she says

"I was thinking of dressing each of you into a rainbow trout costume." I make a face at the idea, we would both seem like awkward rainbow people, and we would stand out but in a bad weird way. She notices my face than says,

"Ok, how about you both dress up to look like a shark and someone being eaten by the shark. You'll be memorable that way." She smiles at her failure and I again look displeased. I add,

"How about, and this is a suggestion, we get dressed up to show our districts hard work and dedication for fishing?"

"No, that seems too overdone" She waves her hand as if it were a fly in front of her face she was shooing away.

"What do you mean overdone? It represents that we are here to fight, not just some laughing stock from District 4!"

"I wouldn't argue with me little lady! My ideas were way better than yours! You are just too immature to get it" She rolls her eyes at me and I get annoyed

"Excuse me, I may be younger than you but you can't assume I'm immature like that, you're just a joke!" She gets all red than leaves.

She comes back a few minutes later, holding a black bag, which I assume to be my outfit. She tells me to close my eyes as she puts it on me which I dislike but unfortunately have to agree to. When I'm in the outfit all comfortable, she shoves a full length mirror in front of me. I see that she choose the rainbow trout idea. My head is right inside the fishes mouth, my gills glitter with color as I move around. I hate this outfit with a burning passion. I can't believe she is making me go out in front of the entire country dressed like a freak. She comes behind me and whispers in my ear,

"You better like this, and you do. If you don't I will be the one who makes you never get sponsors!" I smile in the mirror to mask my terror and say,

"Oh, Violet, I love it so much! Thank you for putting this hideous outfit together so I can get embarrassed in front of the entire nation! I owe you big time!" I know I was a little harsh but I truly hate this outfit, saying it the way I did was nicer that what I actually was thinking.

She pushes me out of the room and in the elevator to go down where everyone else is probably waiting to get the opening ceremonies started. When the elevator opens, everyone stops and stare at me.


	9. Chapter 9

I walk over to where Julius, Derek, Alyssa, and Sean are. I notice Sean has the same outfit as me so I'm not freaking as much. I ask,

"What are we going to do? I'm not going out there like this! I look like I belong in a kindergarten musical!"

Alyssa answers "It's alright, me and Derek will fix this. Remember that sewing class I took? And you said it would never come handy?"

"Yeah, why?" I reply

"I'm gonna use it now, come with me." She grabs me and Sean's hands and tells Derek to come on. She shoves us all in a spare room where there are fabric all over.

"What kind of room is this?" Derek asks

"A fabric room, Julius told me about it." She whispers something to Derek and he nods his head, he leads Sean out of the room.

"We are they going?" I ask

"Derek is going to work on Sean while I work on you. I told him my design and ideas." She than tells me to shut up so she could get to work. She tells me to close my eyes because she wants to surprise me. I do as I'm told and it seems like forever until I can open my eyes. I listen to the cutting and ripping sounds to entertain me. When I'm told I can open my eyes, there is a full length mirror in front of me. I'm wearing a rainbow bikini top with bright, sparkly green pants and a net around whole body. When I ask about the green pants, she tells me that me and Sean are pretending to be mermaids caught in a net. I put on some black heels to match. Liz puts my hair in a fishtail braid and does my make up over again because Violet did it so terribly. When I'm done, we walk out of the spare room and head back over to where Julius stands alone, fiddling his outfit. When he sees us, he stops and his jaw drops, he says,

"Magnificent! Two thumbs up! Good job Alyssa!" We stand there chatting for a while, waiting for Derek and Sean to come back. With 5 minutes before the ceremony starts, Derek and Sean still aren't back. I volunteer to go look for them. I wander down the hallways until I hear talking from a closet. The door is a crack open so I take that advantage and look inside. It's Derek and Sean arguing about something. I decide to listen in, Derek says,

"You need to!"

"I won't! She won't like that anyway!" She? Who's she?

"If you want to stay alive, and make a lasting impression on the audience, you have to!"

"It's taking advantage of her and the whole countries feelings!"

"Who cares?"

"I do! What happens in the arena?"

"Kill her to make you seem like a killer yet sad you have to kill your love."

"No, I'm not doing it, and you can't make me. That plan is sick and deceiving! I'm leaving!" Sean starts to make his way to the door and I run away, as fast as I can in these heels. I somehow make it around the corner before Sean can see me. I run back towards Sean I say,

"Opening ceremonies are like now! Let's go!" He grabs my hand and we run all the way back to Alyssa and Julius.

"Where's Derek?" she asks

"He's busy, when are we going?" Sean asks

"You guys are up next!" We both get on the chariot and face each other. I put some last minute touches on his outfit and he does the same for me.

"You look good by the way" he says

"Thanks, so do you" We face forward again and he grabs his hand around my waist, I look at him and he replies

"I'm gonna fall if you don't help me" he smiles cheesy and I let go of his grip around my waist and hold his hand instead. As soon as we lock hands, our chariot pulls forward. Here we go…


	10. Chapter 10

Make myself memorable, make myself memorable… How the heck am I supposed to do that? I whisper my confusion to Sean and he looks me in the eyes. He lifts up our hands and kisses my hand.

"Just act like no one else" He says with a smile. I kiss him on the cheek than face the crowd. I have this overwhelming feeling; everyone in this crowd loves me. I truly feel like I'm on top of the world! I blow kisses into the audience. Sean taps me on the shoulder and hands me a rose in his mouth, I grab it from him in my mouth and smile at the audience. They go wild. I soon remember their clapping me on as they are excited to see me participate to fight to my death. I drop the rose but keep smiling and waving the best I can. When the rides almost over, Sean's hand goes back on my hip. I look at him and he kisses my forehead. He whispers in my ear "For the show, keep going" I kiss him back on the cheek long enough to get people to take a few million photos. Our chariot pulls to a stop and there's a video of President Snow's relative making a speech about the Games. I'm not surprised that he isn't here, in person himself, there would be a brave person to bring a gun in here and kill him. I know I would.

After his speech, we're sent away and when the doors close behind us, we get off the chariot. I take Sean's hand off of me and run to hug Liz. "You did amazing!" she tells me

"Thanks! I feel amazing! The sensation out there was awesome! Even though they were cheering me on to my death…" We both laugh than link arms back to the room.

When we get to District 4's level, I go to my room. I strip off my outfit and put on the silk robe. I head to the bathroom and take off the layers of makeup I have on. My face felt like it lost twenty pounds. I hop in the shower and try another 30 buttons and when I step out this time, I smell like I went to a candy factory. I go to my closet and put on a blue half-shirt, black leggings and red high tops. I go into the dining room. Julius is there arguing with Sean and Derek. I turn around and walk into Alyssa's room. She comes out of the bathroom and smiles at me, she's wearing a skirt and a strapless shirt. "Ready for dinner?" I ask

"Yeah, let's go!"

"Well you may not want to go right now…"

"And why not?"

"Because the boys are arguing with Julius."

She rolls her eyes "Ugh, come on. I've got it."

We walk down to the dining room again and they are all still arguing. Liz gets up onto the table and screams "ENOUGH! CAN WE FINALLY EAT OR DO I HAVE TO STUFF THE FOOD DOWN YOUR LITTLE, PUNY THROATS! NOW CALM YOUR LITTLE PANTIES DOWN!" I never heard her scream like that before. It sends chills down my back. They stop arguing though and I pat her on the back. We all eat some food and settle on the couch. We watch the recaps of the opening ceremonies and Julius keeps telling us how weird his hair looked, even though no one is really listening. I want to go to bed immediately but of course it won't go like that. I head to my room and plop on my bed. There is a knocking on my door I say, "Its open! Unless you're Julius!" The person outside laughs and comes in. Oh God, just what I need…


	11. Chapter 11

It turns out to be Sean with a rose in his hand. "Hey" he says

"What's with the rose?"

"Oh, nothing, it just reminded me of you." He says with a smile. He hands it to me and I put it on my nightstand. "May I?" He points to the bed, obviously wanting to take a seat. _Great, he's going to be here for a while. _

"Sure why not." He plops himself onto the foot of my bed and I sit up, leaning against my headboard. "So what's up?"

"Umm, I gotta tell you something."

"Can't it wait until morning? It's really late. I'm tired, Sean."

"No, I won't be able to sleep until this is off my chest. I only need a minute. Please?"

I hesitantly agree and let him continue, I have no idea what can be so important. "So at the opening ceremonies… as Derek and I were in the spare room, working on my outfit…" For the first time since I've met him, he seems uncomfortable. He doesn't know how to say what he is going to tell me. I just want to scream at him to keep going. "We were talking, arguing about… ummm…"

_Wait a minute… _I know what this is about now! It finally comes to me that, Derek and Sean were talking about me! Oh my god! "Wait!" I stop him, I don't need him to explain, I know where he is going with this. "I overheard you talking." I look down "I know what you were talking about."

"Oh," He looks down. "So you know what he was planning to do?"

"Well not exactly…"

"Derek was planning on me to confess my love to you like Peeta Mellark did to Katniss Everdeen in their interviews and make you actually fall for me and then I kill you when you least except it. BUT if you were listening, you would know I wouldn't let him talk me into it."

"But did you ever think about it?" I keep my head down; I don't want to look into his eyes because I might get lost in them and lose my focus.

"No! Never! That is a devious and mean plan. I would never take advantage of you like that!"

"Where would he come up with that kind of idea though?"

"I don't know. It's stupid though." I look up, meeting his eyes.

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

I exhale sharply. Gosh this is hard. "Do you like me?"

He lets out a cheap laugh. "Why?"

"I don't know. I'm just thinking that the only way he would think of the idea is if you did like me or he made it up for the fun of it…" I didn't even notice but I'm right in front of face. Our lips are at least a few inches apart. I'm looking into his eyes, searching for an answer. I don't know why I'm wondering and NEED to know enough to ask him but I am.

He looks me into the eyes, smiles, laughs a little. Than he looks down, he looks somewhat disappointed. He looks up and says, "Goodnight." He kisses my cheek and gets up. But I need an answer. I stop him in the doorway frame and face him. He is pushed up against the frame and I'm in his face. _What are you doing? Is this really SO important? _

I don't know why, but I'm angry. I need to know but I don't know why I need to know! I'm filled with mixed thoughts but I'm not letting him get away, not without an answer.

He says, "Before you say anything, may I ask something?"

"What?"

"Do you like me?" He smiles at me with his grin reaching from ear-to-ear.

"What? No? This is a battle to the death we are about to be thrown into and you think I can think about LOVE? Come on man, you are my friend, but if we are more than friends, one of us will end up crushed. With my luck, we'll end up having to fight each other in the arena."

He grabs my hand that's entwined in his shirt and pushes me so I'm against the doorframe now. "Why are you always thinking about the future? How about just live in the moment and then have you ever thought that you might enjoy it more? Instead of just worrying!"

"If I don't think about the future, I'll get too caught up in the present and… and…" I look away, trying to avoid eye contact but with his free hand, Sean puts his finger under my chin, forcing me to make eye contact. I try to let his grip go so I can leave, but he won't. "Let me go Sean" I try to avoid making eye contact.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I need answers"

"For what? I don't care anymore, you shouldn't care either. It would never work out anyway." I somehow get him to release his grip and start going inside my room. I close the door in his face and sit on my bed. I put my head in my hands and start to cry.


	12. Chapter 12

I wake up the next morning and walk into the bathroom. I see that I'm still in my clothes from yesterday, my makeup is a disaster, and my hair looks like a beehive. I strip myself of my clothes and jump into the shower, I try to rub the makeup and yesterday's dirt and sweat off my body. I feel gross. As I finish my shampoo I remember what happened last night with me and Sean.

_Ugh, you idiot! You should've kissed him!_ But I don't even like him! I've never thought of him more than a friend. I will admit though, he is attractive, but just not my type. If I fall for him, I won't see where I'm going and end up tripping. Gosh, love is hard.

I walk out of the shower smelling like I was around little kids and puppies… _Okay?_ I dry my body and blow out my hair. I put on a tank top, and jeans with a pair of black flats. I walk down into the dining room where everyone is eating breakfast. I grab a plate and put on some pancakes and French toast. I'm forced to take a seat next to Sean since that's the only seat left. I finish quickly and go into the living room. Everyone soon after joins me and Liz sits next to me and since I'm on the end, Sean or anyone can't go on my other side.

Julius takes the remote from me and flips through the channels. He stops at the 74th annual Hunger Games. Ugh, they always have this one on! Julius starts blabbing on about having to get ready soon for training. Training starts at 9 and its 8 now so I sit and continue to watch the Games. Hey, I might get some tips out of it!

At 8:30, I decide to start getting ready, and just in time to, the "Cave Scene" just started. (Every girl at school obsesses over that. They always say they want to have romance like that, I just gag every time.) Alyssa follows me into my room where Violet has laid out my training uniform. It's plain black with gray accents also; it has a patch of blue on my left arm with a white 4 on it. I put it on and go to Alyssa who has been sitting on my bed.

We make small talk for the remaining time until I have to go down. I have decided not to tell her now, but later when I have more time to explain. At 8:55 Julius knocks on my door, saying that it's time. I hug Liz than get up to meet Julius and Sean by the elevators.

On the way down to the Training Center, I don't say a word to Sean; I don't even look at him. Julius is totally oblivious to the tension and keeps blabbing on about his plans for when we're in the Games. Once we reach the ground floor we head to where a very small lady, who introduces herself as Melinda, starts talking about training.

Once she finishes, she lets us go and do our own thing. I look around to see that they have weapons, and survival station. In the weapons they have a sword fighting, hand-to-hand combat skills, spear throwing, archery, weight lifting, knife throwing, blowdarts, and stealth station. In the survival stations, they have plant identification, fire building, and a rope course stations. (I don't know why that's in survival, maybe to get away from enemies?) I decide to get the survival things over with today and then work on the weapons the next two days.

As I head over to the plant identification station, I see that it only has two people by it, a boy and a girl. I walk over and introduce myself. "Hi guys. My name is Rosetta. I'm 14 and from District 4. How about you?"

The boy looks up and adjusts his glasses. He is on the tiny side, he has freckles, with blonde shaggy hair, and blue eyes. He looks me up and down and finally says, "I'm Linus. I'm 13 and from District 5." He point to the girl next to him. "And this is Sophie. She doesn't talk that much. She's 12, and from District 7." She gives me a small wave and a weak smile. Sophie is also tiny like Linus, she has short black hair, freckles too, and warming grey eyes. I sit down next to Linus and get to work.

I notice that Linus is very good at this but Sophie isn't. I'm alright but definitely need more practice. When I somehow get done sorting them all, I mix them up and try again. Linus and Sophie stay here for a while so I look over and say to Linus,

"You're really good at this. Why do you need to be here the entire time?"

"I'm not the best at weapons so my plan is to stick to the survival skills and somehow stay hidden from the rest of the competitors until they kill themselves off." I nod approvingly. That actually is a good plan. I wonder if he has any allies, because I would sure want him.

"Hey do you have any allies?"

"Just Sophie, why? Do you?"

"No, would you two like to be mine?" Linus looks at Sophie and she nods her head and smiles bigger. She looks at me and gives thumbs up. Linus nods his head and says,

"Fine. Us three are allies than. Shake on it?" He extends a hand to me, I shake it. "But you have to prove yourself worthy. What are your skills?"

"Um, I'm good with blowdarts and hand-to-hand combat. I'm probably going to do all the survival stuff today than head over to the weapons. You can come to you know, both of you. Even if you're not good at a weapon, now is a really good time to learn."

Linus looks up, probably thinking it over. "Alright. You are right." He seems like the snobby kid type you think they're very good at everything.

We work on the plant identification center all the way up until lunch. By that time, I know all the plant names and shapes and everything else by heart.

I walk over to the buffet and grab a grilled cheese sandwich with an apple. I go over and sit down next to Linus and Sophie. We use small talk until we have to head back to work. I find out that Linus is a single child who has a mom, his dad died when he was 2 from a disease. He tells me that he is also an A+ student in school, which I totally saw coming.

But all I learn about Sophie is that she had a traumatic accident when she was little, Linus doesn't know and Sophie wouldn't tell us what it was. I understand her discomfort on the topic so we quickly get off of it.

Soon, lunch is over and we head over to the fire building station. I'm relatively good at this from all the bon fires me and Alyssa used to make on the beach when my dad was drunk and Amanda was at a friend's house. Sophie and Linus catch on quickly from me and we move on in about two hours to the rope course.


	13. Chapter 13

I climb for my life. I look to my left to see Ginger is speeding up in front of me. I look down and see the trainer going, "Thank GOD! Someone is finally trying!" I smile and keep going. I'm right behind Ginger now and we are about half way there. She stops and looks down at me,

"So you're lagging behind now are you?" I pass her but she stays put. I shout back at her,

"Not anymore!" I smile than she continues.

We get to the top and are on the other side now, climbing down. We are neck and neck when she says,

"Hey, do you know what will happen to someone if they fall off this from this high up?"

"No, why?"

"Well neither do I! Let's find out!" She smiles wickedly at me than pushes me hard. It jerks me so hard but I manage to stay put but she is now ahead of me. When I reach her again she states,

"Oh? So you want more?" Instead of pushing me with her arm, she now kicks me in the gut which makes me lose my grip and I start tumbling towards the ground, fast.

I hear people screaming and telling other people to move out of the way. But I'm not giving up yet, and the Games haven't even started! I struggle my way back towards the ropes and just as I'm about to splat onto the ground, I grab hold of the rope. I than hear people cheering and overwhelming me with congratulations. But all I remember is blacking out once I untangled my hands from the rope and fall onto the ground.

I wake up in my room. I bolt straight up but am pushed back down by the agonizing pain in my stomach. Liz walks in with a tray full of tomato soup. She sees me up and puts some pillows behind my back so I can sit up straight.

"What happened?" I ask

"Well there's good and bad news. Good news is you beat Ginger on the rope course. Bad news is you were blacked out for two days," she looks down, "you only have one more day of training."

"WHAT? That's not fair? And Ginger was allowed to continue?"

"No, Ginger is suspended until you're well enough to train again."

"Oh, ok. What time is it?"

"8:30. Eat up and get dressed. I'll be back at 9. Okay?"

"Okay." She leaves to let me eat. I stuff down the food but still am a little hungry. I put on the same training uniform as I did two days ago and headed to the kitchen. I grab an apple and turn when I feel a tap on my shoulder. It's Sean.

"Hey, are you okay? You were blacked out for a while. You are coming to training today?"

"Yeah I'm fine." I walk past him and go to the elevators where Julius is standing waiting for me and Sean.

"Oh my goodness you're ok!" Julius embraces me into an awkward hug because I don't hug back. When he lets go I say,

"Yeah. But my stomach still hurts a little bit."

"Then sweetie, why are you coming to training?"

"Because I need to train."

"Fine, but if you don't feel well tell me and I'll get you out of there!" He sounds like an overprotective parent. I roll my eyes and reply,

"Yes mother." He then scolds me for having inappropriate behavior and manners. After about 10 minutes of that, he looks at his fancy Capitol watch and says,

"Oh dear Capitol! We are dreadfully late! Come, come!" He pushes me and Sean into the elevator and we shoot straight down. Once we open up into the Training Center. I walk over to Linus and Sophie. Linus asks,

"Are you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine. Thanks for asking though." I muster as much as I can to give him a smile. I'm tired of being asked that! People should know that if I'm ok enough to get dressed this morning and go to Training, than I think I'm ok! "Sorry for my tardy. What did you guys do yesterday?"

"Survival" Linus replies

"Guys! I thought you were going to try weapons!"

"We didn't want to try without you." I eye roll and say

"Thanks but you two didn't have to do that!"

"Don't worry, we volunteered." We both laugh while Sophie smiles tiny again. Than we are off.

We first stop at the sword fighting station. There surprisingly aren't that many people, only 2 people in front of us and 3 behind us. Usually sword fighting has a longer line. Up right now, is Ginger and she is doing awesome! She disarmed the trainer and has him begging on his knees for her to stop. She finally stops tormenting him and she laughs at his failure. She doesn't even help him up! She just places her sword back on the rack and walks away.

As the next person walks up, looks like they're from District 3, I turn to Linus and ask,

"So, who wants to go first?" Sophie raises her hand.

When the person in front of us is done, Sophie walks up and grabs a normal sword. She walks over to the trainer and looks rather frightened. But soon her session is over because she got disarmed and the trainer is so close to slitting her throat. He helps her up and she walks back over to us ashamed. Linus' goes similar to that but he actually put up a fight.

When I go up, I grab a long sword and face the trainer.

"Ready?" he asks

"Ready" I say and he smiles. He swings at my legs but I jump and deflect the sword.

"You seem confident" He says

"Well I'm not, I'm freaking out on the inside" he smiles and adds a little laugh. I swing at his head but he ducks. I than take a swing at his middle area and he takes a hit. But since he is padded, it doesn't hurt him. He stumbles a little but regains his footing. We continue like this forever until I swing at his throat, being fatal to someone without padding, sending the trainer flying to the side. He gets up than says,

"Wow, good job. And this is your first time with a sword?"

"Yes"

"Well you obviously need more practice but you are good for starters."

"Thank you" I smile, shake his hand and put my sword away. I head back over to Linus and Sophie. They both smile at me and Linus says,

"Good job girl! Way better than us!"

We than head to the hand-to-hand combat station, and the same thing happens to Linus and Sophie like the sword fighting station, they both end up on the ground. But when I go up, it ends up with the trainer in a headlock.

Spear throwing, archery, and weight lifting all end with me being better at it than Linus and Sophie. When we get to the knife throwing station, Lilac and Ricardo are their taking turns hitting the target they're okay but nothing compared to Ginger, before she hit every target in the bulls-eye WHILE MOVING! Hopefully she doesn't get her hands on a knife in the arena, but that's highly impossible.

When I try, I slightly miss the bulls-eye but when Linus tries, he misses the target all together. I stifle a laugh and he gives me a glare but quickly laughs with me. But when he tries with a stealth he nails it.

When Sophie comes up to try, she steps back, grabs a sharp knife and throws it at the bulls-eye. I think she is going to miss horribly but instead she gets it in the bulls-eye. My jaw is wide open and as she turns around, she sees me and blushes. She throws three more and they all go to THROUGH the bulls-eye. Lilac than challenges Sophie to hit the bulls-eye while moving; she nails it! Than Ricardo comes up and challenges her to throw it backwards; she does it simple. They also challenge her to do it backwards upside-down and she gets it in the bulls-eye no problem.

After they are all out of ideas, they just pout and she smiles. I come up to her and pat her on the back. I say,

"Where'd you learn how to do that?" She just shrugs and blushes.

When we finish talking for a bit, Melinda, the head trainer from the beginning, blows her whistle signaling that training is over. I defiantly regained the loss from missing a day. I say good-bye to Linus and Sophie and head over to the elevator. I head up to my floor and plop on the couch in the living room. Liz comes and sits next to me, and says,

"Thank goodness you're finally here!"

"What do you mean?"

"Derek has been trying to flirt with me ALL DAY!" I laugh at her but she scowls at me to make me stop.

"Did you tell him to knock it off?"

"YES! But he is so persistent! It's annoying me." She crosses her arms and lays back. Derek comes over with the biggest smile on his face and plants a seat next to Alyssa. Then he puts her arm around her and says,

"Hey babe" She punches him in the gut which sends him flying off the couch. He gets up, cradling his stomach "Oh so you like to play hard to get? I dig that." He then walks away.

Alyssa point her finger towards his direction and says, "See what I mean?"


	14. Author's Note

**Hey ya'll! I just want to say, thanks to everyone that has reviewed (2 people) but I would like more of you to review! That can mean complements, suggestions, or even complaints (If that necessary). **

**Also if you were to tell people about my story too! That would make me even happier!**

**I want my story to be a hit and this ^ isn't asking a lot and it would really make my day! **

**I know most of you won't care, but could you at least tell me why?**

**Do I sound too desperate? **

**I really need your help though!**

**THANKS! **


	15. Chapter 14

Julius waits until Sean is back up here and we go back down into the Training Center. Since we are in District 4, this will be quick. I take a seat next to District 3 boy and Melinda comes out and says, "District 1 female." Lilac gets up and snarls at all of us like she already won her invisible prize. I just roll my eyes and lean back on the sofa which is surprisingly really comfortable, I could fall asleep on this if I wanted to.

"So, what are you going to do?" Sean asks.

I turn to him and say, "I don't know yet."

"Well you were really good with a sword earlier today"

"Thanks but I wasn't that good."

"I doubt it." He leans back to and a few minutes later Melinda comes back out and says,

"District 1 male." When Dominic gets up he tries to get people to clap for him but no one does and I silently laugh at it. Dominic goes inside behind Melinda and people move up closer to the door. I'm starting to get nervous and my palms are getting sweaty. _What am I going to do for the GameMakers? _

I decide I'm going to practice my blow dart skills with a little hand-to-hand combat if I have time. Each tribute gets about 15 minutes. Soon, I hear "District 3 male" The boy stands up and walks in nervously. I silently promise I won't look like that but won't look as cocky at Lilac and Dominic.

After some time, Melinda comes out once again and says "District 4 female" as I get up, Sean grabs my arm which pulls me right back down.

"What?" I hiss at him and instantly regret it. He looks a little upset and says,

"Good luck" He seems a little disappointed but I don't question him about it because Melinda repeats,

"District 4 female" Sean lets go of me and I walk inside without looking back.

When I get in there, I automatically go to the blow darts and grab a pipe with 5 darts. First I just throw one standing normal and it hits dead center, than I blow one while running, it's a little off center but good enough. Next, I grab another pipe and blow two at the same time and each land in the bulls-eye. For the last one, I climb the rope course all the way to the top and blow one down and it lands a little to the left of the bulls-eye. I climb down and go over to the hand-to-hand combat center where there is a trainer waiting.

"Ready?" he asks

"Ready" Than we battle. I end up giving him a headlock and he is begging for air. When I release him, I turn back to the GamMakers and they have plain expressions on their faces. They huddle which looks really nerdy and then they tell me I can go. I go back up the elevator and see Liz chilling on the couch just like I left her. Liz and I both talk for a while until it's dinner time. I didn't bother changing out of my training clothes and Julius snarled at me. I ignored him and took a seat next to Sean (Of course with my luck). I basically just push around my green beans and tofu and stay out of the conversation. I think about the arena and how I will survive to get back home.

When we all finish, we gather around the tv for the training results. Lilac got an 8, Dominic got a 7, Ginger got a 10, and Ricardo got a 9. I shield my eyes for my result and Liz prys them off for me to see a big fat 10. Me and Ginger got the highest scores. Sean got an 8 which isn't that bad, I wonder what he did. Linus and Sophie both managed to get 7's and I smile at myself.

I excuse myself and go straight to bed. I jump into the shower and wipe off all the sweat and dirt that I didn't before. I get out and wrap myself in a towel. I smell like cinnamon and lemons, ew. I dry myself off and wrap my wet hair into a braid. I put on some pjs and plop onto the bed.

I stare at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep. I just want to know what I'll face in the arena. How will it work? Or how am I supposed to kill Linus and Sophie? They are going to be my allies but we can't be forever. Hopefully when we split up, they die by someone else. I push all the thoughts out of my head and pass out.

The next morning, I don't bother showering because I did so late last night. I have an agonizing head ache anyway so I really don't want to exert myself. I put on a blouse and some shorts and walk down to breakfast.

Everyone turns to greet me but I'm not in the mood to respond.

"You alright? You look like the walking dead?" asks Derek

"Nice to see you too" I respond sarcastically. I grab pancakes and grits. I go into the living room and eat because I have no need in talking or even listening to their ridiculous conversations. I turn on the tv to see President Snow's grand kid talking about the interviews tonight. _Ugh. _

When everyone else finishes breakfast, they join me on the couch. Julius explains that we need to practice "interview etiquette" than get dressed for the actual interview. Sean and I will be with Julius until 3:00 working on answering questions and stuff like that and after that, the stylists have us. _Oh, great. _

Julius than makes Derek and Liz leave so he can work with us "in peace". He shuts off the tv and begins, "Alright. First we are going to work on your interview image. Some people go for the hopeless, the tough, the sexy, the cocky, or the scared image. Right now, we have to create yours." He first works on Sean so I get to watch. But Julius tells me to leave and come back in two hours.

Confused, I walk back to my room to see Liz fiddling with something. She looks up and smiles. "Whats up?" She asks

"Julius told me to come back in two hours."

"Ok, well we can start your lady etiquette."

"What?"

"You'll see" she says and smiles devilishly. She makes me put on 5 in heels and walk around.

"Are you crazy?"

"Rosie, you've been my best friend for years, I think you know the answer to that already"

"Are these the shoes I'm going to wear tonight?"

"No. I don't know yet. But it will be around this height." When I finally put them on, I wobble and probably look ridiculous. Liz just laughs and give me her arm to balance myself on. I finally regain myself and stop wobbling. "Alright, now try walking."

When I try, I end up face first on the floor. I can't even get up without Liz's help. When I finally stand up, we try again. After about an hour and a half working on just walking in heels, I'm a natural. I can walk with books on my head and they won't fall.

For the next half hour, Liz tells me about how to walk, sit, move in a dress and other girly stuff. When two hours are up, I say good-bye to Liz and go back into the living room. Sean and Julius are fighting again and I just go in between them and scream "STOP IT!" It seems to work because they do and Sean's cheeks get red and he looks down at the floor. Sean than leaves for his room, probably to give me and Julius some space.

"Now that that is over, we can work on your image and how you'll answer the questions." Julius tells me. "First we need to pick an image… Sexy? Maybe… Fierce? Maybe… Defiantly not tough… Absolutely not a hopeless mess…."

"Just decide already!" I exclaim

"Either sexy or fierce… Fierce." As he decides, he nods his head.

"Ok, how am I going to be fierce?"

"Act hard to get almost. Almost like being cocky but not really. You need to be confident in everything you do, walking, answering questions, even sitting backstage. Than you can add some sexy into it to… Yes, you will be unforgettable." He smiles devilishly and we get to work.

A tough two hours later, I somehow managed to impress Julius and he tells me to go to my room where Violet will be waiting with my dress. I slug my tired butt to my room to see Violet and Liz fighting. I just lie on my bed and wait for them to notice me. I close my eyes for what seems like a minute but I wake up being shook by Liz.

"Wake up! Wake up! The interviews are in 2 hours!" The interviews are at 7, so I was asleep for a few hours!

"Where's Violet?" I ask

"Her idea sucked for your dress so I kicked her out of here and I pulled something together." She smiles and holds up a black garment bag.

"That's my new dress?"

"No genius its mine… WHAT DO YOU THINK?" I just roll my eyes. Liz first tells me to shower and when I do, I smell like strawberries. I wrap myself in a towel and then she takes me over to the mirror and tells me to close my eyes while she does my makeup. After, she puts my hair in a braided bun. Next, she tells me she is going to slip on my dress and as it goes on, I feel the silk wrap around my body. It tingles me and I giggle. Liz than makes me hold her hand so I can put on my heels. She touches up my makeup and finally says, "Alright, open your eyes now"

And when I do, I'm absolutely stunning. My makeup seems almost as if it were glowing and my eyes definitely pop. My dress is blue to compliment my eyes, one shouldered, with ruffles at the bottom. It flows out and doesn't stick to my curves. It's a little short but I can deal with it for one night. I'm wearing blue pumps too. I look totally unrecognizable, I look like a goddess. I'm overjoyed with my look and thank Liz when there is a knock on my door.

It's Julius telling us it's time. Good thing I'm not going to be alone with Sean, Liz and Derek will be out in the audience with Julius. She whispers in my ear before we go, "If you freeze up, just find me in the audience. You got this, good luck." I hug her and leave for the elevator. _Here goes nothing… _


End file.
